THE
MAINSHEET
Summer 2012
Contents
AQSC Regatta and SigneT Open Meeting 30 Jun 2012
Graham Thompson
It was a day of confused battles, starting with the Kingston traffic, which caused me to be 10 minutes late at the start line for the 10 am bacon butties served up by Helen Barnett and Brenda Panting.
The Signet Association had long since arrived and were rigging four boats for one of their open series.
Four generations of the Overs clan had come, in particular Lizzie, whom I had last seen as a teenager, was now married and her baby was happy to be passed from one family member to another.
I was offered a spare Signet, but declined, both out of dislike of centre main and from a fear of reducing their boat to matchwood.
The weather was gusty and ominous grey clouds promised an interesting day. I opted for my Bosun, as a five hour opera marathon the following day would keep me from sailing, so comfort could prevail over competitiveness.
Frank Rainsborough was race officer and we could expect efficient management of the day's racing. He had reserved the best wind of the season for teaching our visitors the joys of river racing.
Two single handed Bosuns on full rig, Bryan Clements single handing his Graduate on main alone, and four two handed Signets started the race.
A 180 degree shift on the start line left those starting on starboard reduced to tracking back to the other end of the line. Not that those on port gained much – in a wind reminiscent of a manic blender with a faulty gearbox boats were repeatedly headed. The heavier Bosuns demonstrated the value of momentum in such conditions and drew ahead, followed by Bryan Clements, Crew exhaustion was a major factor, however, and Bryan Clements, the most exposed perhaps in single handing a Graduate, retired during the second lap.
Rodger Wheeler dropped behind Richard Cannon's lead Signet during the same lap, but recovered to run second by the third lap. The fourth and final lap saw the two Bosuns finish ahead of the Signets in the order Richard Cannon crewed by Liz Archer, Keith Hatton with Roy Nelson, L Davies with Pat Overs, and then John Panting with Will Davies. On personal handicaps Rodger Wheeler beat me, with Richard third and John fourth.
During lunch the wind picked up, so I put one reef in my main and took on Bryan as crew. This proved effective, in that I could readily prevent capsizes and therefore concentrate on making my boat go in the right direction. Rodger, the only single hander, struggled due to having a full rig and no crew, coming fourth physically and on boat handicap behind the inevitable Richard Cannon and L Davis and Pat Overs. Keith Hatton and Roy Nelson retired after a capsize, allowing John Panting and Will Davies to come in fifth.
A lull in the middle of the third race made Rodger's task somewhat easier and he
was able to get ahead of me and my merry crew during the second lap, but fortunately
the wind picked up again and re-
Keith Hatton having retired on the last lap, and John Panting having elected to give his crew a dipping, Richard, now crewed by Ken Ayres, was the first Signet to finish, followed by L Davies and Pat Overs, then John Panting and Will Davies.
The regatta results at the end of the first day were myself on five points, Rodger on five, John Panting on ten, Richard on eleven, and Keith Hatton on sixteen. All would depend on the Sunday racing and the discards available to those sailing for the two days.
In the evening there was a delicious hog roast prepared and carved by Nigel Knowles. Many other members had prepared dishes to go with it.
Carving the Hog roast -
